IV. Determination Findings

Feasibility of Estimating Radiation Doses with Sufficient Accuracy

The Secretary established the feasibility determination for the class of employees
covered by this report based upon the findings summarized below.

(1) Monitoring records, process descriptions, and source term data available are
sufficient to estimate radiation doses with sufficient accuracy for this class of
employees. There are sufficient and credible external and internal dosimetry
data and no evidence that would cast doubt on the integrity of the data for use in
dose reconstruction or in the generation of coworker dose distributions.

(2) Dose reconstruction is feasible for the internal sources of exposure in vitro
(urinalysis, airborne dust, lung, gamma, beta, neutron, and occupational
* medical X-ray).

(3) Data and documents covering external dosimetry and related records covering
the entire operational period of the Rocky Flats Plant are readily available.

(4) Coworker data may be applied to estimate internal and external dose. It is also
feasible to estimate ambient environmental internal and external dose for
monitored as well as unmonitored workers.

(5) The fact that all workers with significant neutron exposures were monitored is the
basis for concluding that maximum dose could be determined after 1966.
Conversely, it is the lack of this belief (i.e., that all workers with significant
neutron exposure were monitored prior to 1967), that forms the basis for the
conclusion that maximum dose could not be determined prior to 1967. At the
commencement of operations at the Rocky Flats Plant in 1952, the site had
limited neutron monitoring capabilities. Neutron exposures were monitored using
glass track plates supplied by the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory, and there
were only about 20 plates per exchange cycle available. Starting in the late
1950's, neutron exposures were monitored using film badges, beginning with
those workers judged to be at highest risk by the health physics staff. Throughout
the early 1960's, the neutron monitoring program was expanded and more
workers were brought into the program. Based upon information provided by site
expert personnel involved in the dosimetry program during that time, by 1967 all
workers with significant neutron exposure potential were being monitored.

(6) The determination that it is feasible to estimate with sufficient accuracy the
radiation doses encountered by the employees specified in this case is based on
administrative policies that determined which workers were to be monitored, the
scientific rationale that was used to develop the administrative policies,

HHS Special Exposure Cohort Determination:
Rocky Flats Plant


1. Determination

I, Michael O. Leavitt, Secretary of Health and Human Services (Secretary), have
determined that the employees defined in Section II of this report do not meet the
statutory criteria for addition to the Special Exposure Cohort (SEC), as authorized
under the Energy Employees Occupational !lIness Compensation Program Act of
2000 (EEOICPA), 42 U.S.C. § 7384q.

AUG 0 6 2007

Date Michael O. Leavitt

ll. | Employee Class Definition

Department of Energy employees or its contractor or subcontractor employees
at the Rocky Flats Plant in Golden, Colorado, who were exposed to radiation
dose from 1967 through 2005 and who were exposed to any radiation dose
other than neutron dose from 1952 through 1966.

HII. Decision Criteria and Recommendations

Pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 7384q, to designate a class for addition to the SEC, the
Secretary must determine, upon recommendation of the Advisory Board on Radiation
and Worker Health (Board), that —

(1) it is not feasible to estimate with sufficient accuracy the radiation dose that the
class received; and

(2) there is a reasonable likelihood that such radiation dose may have endangered
the health of members of the class.

The SEC final rule states in 42 C.F.R. § 83.13(c)(1) that it is feasible in two situations
to estimate the radiation dose that the class received with sufficient accuracy. First,
the rule states that radiation doses may be estimated with sufficient accuracy if
NIOSH has established that it has access to sufficient information to estimate the
maximum radiation dose for every type of cancer for which radiation doses are
reconstructed that could have been incurred under plausible circumstances by any
member of the class. Alternatively, radiation doses may be estimated with sufficient
accuracy if NIOSH has established that it has access to sufficient information to
estimate the radiation doses of members of the class more precisely than a maximum
dose estimate.

In a letter received by the Secretary on July 5, 2007, the Board, pursuant to 42 U.S.C.
§ 7384q, agreed with the following NIOSH findings, effectively advising the
Secretary that radiation dose can be reconstructed with sufficient accuracy for certain
Rocky Flats Plant employees in accordance with provisions of EEOICPA and the
SEC final rule.

HHS Special Exposure Cohort Determination:
Rocky Flats Plant


comparisons of worker monitoring records and job titles, and scientific
calculations that compare measured dose with derived dose.

(7) NIOSH has established that it has access to sufficient information to either: (1)
estimate the maximum internal and/or external radiation dose for every type of
cancer for which radiation doses are reconstructed that could have been incurred
under plausible circumstances by any member of the class; or (2) estimate the
internal and/or external radiation doses to members of the class more precisely
than a maximum dose estimate.

In its letter to the Secretary, the Board concurred with these NIOSH findings.

Health Endangerment

Because the Secretary established that it is feasible to estimate with sufficient
accuracy the radiation doses encountered by certain Rocky Flats Plant employees as
specified in this class, a determination of health endangerment is not required.

V. — Effect of the Determination

Members of the class of employees covered by this determination and their survivors
continue to be eligible to submit claims for compensation under EEOICPA. As
required for cancer claims covering other DOE and Atomic Weapons Employer
employees not included in the SEC, qualified cancer claims under Subpart B of
EEOICPA for members of this class will be adjudicated by the Department of Labor,
in part on the basis of radiation dose reconstructions which will be conducted by
NIOSH.

VI. Administrative Review of Determination

The determination provided in this report may be subject to an administrative review
within HHS, pursuant to 42 C.F.R. § 83.18(a). On the basis of such a review, if the
Secretary decides to designate the class of employees covered by this determination,
in part or whole, as an addition to the SEC, the Secretary would transmit a new report
to Congress providing the designation and the criteria and findings on which the
decision was based.

HHS Special Exposure Cohort Determination:
Rocky Flats Plant


THE SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES.
WASHINGTON, 0.C. 20201

AUG 0 6 2007

The Honorable Richard Cheney
President of the United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510

Dear Mr. President:

Pursuant to the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of
2000 (EEOICPA) and 42 C.F.R. pt. 83, a petition was filed on behalf of workers from the Rocky
Flats Plant to be added to the Special Exposure Cohort (SEC).

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Institute for
Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) evaluated the petition and presented its findings to the
Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health (Board). The Board considered the petition,
and on July 5, 2007. I received the Board’s three recommendations concerning this petition. I
have also received the deliberations, findings, and recommendations of the Director of NIOSH
and the Director of CDC.

I have made three decisions regarding this petition. Enclosed is the third of the three
decisions. The other two will be sent to you separately.

I have determined that the following employees do not meet the statutory criteria for
addition to the SEC, as authorized under EEOICPA, 42 U.S.C. § 7384q.

Department of Energy employees or its contractor or subcontractor employces at the
Rocky Flats Plant in Golden, Colorado, who were exposed to radiation dose from 1967
through 2005 and who were exposed to any radiation dose other than neutron dose from
1952 through 1966.

The criteria and findings upon which this determination is based are provided in the
enclosed report.

Please call me if you have any further questions regarding this matter.

Sincerely,

Michael O. Leavitt

Enclosure


THE SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20201

AUG 0 6 2007

The Honorable Nancy Pelosi
Speaker of the House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Madam Speaker:

Pursuant to the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of
2000 (EEOICPA) and 42 C.F.R. pt. 83, a petition was filed on behalf of workers from the Rocky
Flats Plant to be added to the Special Exposure Cohort (SEC).

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Institute for
Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) evaluated the petition and presented its findings to the
Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health (Board). The Board considered the petition,
and on July 5, 2007, I received the Board’s three recommendations concerning this petition. I
have also received the deliberations, findings, and recommendations of the Director of NIOSH
and the Director of CDC.

I have made three decisions regarding this petition. Enclosed is the third of the three
decisions. The other two will be sent to you separately.

I have determined that the following employees do not meet the statutory criteria for
addition to the SEC, as authorized under EEOICPA, 42 U.S.C. § 7384q.

Department of Energy employees or its contractor or subcontractor employees at the
Rocky Flats Plant in Golden, Colorado, who were exposed to radiation dose from 1967
through 2005 and who were exposed to any radiation dose other than neutron dose from
1952 through 1966.

The criteria and findings upon which this determination is based are provided in the
enclosed report.

Please call me if you have any further questions regarding this matter.

Sincerely,

ichael O. Leavitt

Enclosure


HHS Determination Concerning a Petition to Add Members to the

Special Exposure Cohort
under the

Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000

Determination Concerning a Petition for Employees from

Rocky Flats Plant
Golden, Colorado

HHS Special Exposure Cohort Determination:
Rocky Flats Plant